It's not that the city's pedalers are upset at Stover because he hated the film about the local bike movement. It's that he admittedly found it so annoying that he wants to run down a few cyclists with his Honda.

Here, we'll let the critic's review do the talking.

First, he describes "Veer," which is playing at downtown Portland's Living Room Theaters and is is currently making the rounds at film festivals, as an attempt to "follow the adventures of those quirky, oft-mustached, bespectacled, weirdly-skinny bikers that populate Portland with the ubiquity of rats in a subway tunnel. "

Harger then admits his contempt for the local cycling scene. "I didn't realize I had such hatred for these people until I watched the movie, and I can't pinpoint exactly why," he writes. "All I know is I have a weird desire to make quick right hand turns in my Honda without checking the side-view mirror. Just kidding."

Yowsa! Yeah, he says he's just kidding, but doesn't this guy have an editor?

That makes some of the anti-bike-ites who leave nasty comments on Hard Drive almost seem like Gandhi.

I left a message on Harger's phone today. No response yet. His number popped up on one call, but whoever it was hung up when I answered. Strange.

Of course, no one has ever accused this town's cyclists of being shy.

Over at BikePortland.org, blogger Jonathan Maus gives an even-handed critique of Harger's 1-out-of-5 review, noting that it wasn't all bombast and that the writer was coming "from the outside" of Portland's bike culture. (Harger wrote that he would have liked to see more development of storylines and characters, for instance).

Still, Maus wondered, "What's with the hate?"

Some of his readers had the same question.

"Imagine how upset he would get if people started 'kidding' around about cutting his brake lines or threatening his life in some fashion," one cyclist wrote.

At the same time, many cyclists expressed a legitimate -- and growing -- concern that Portland "bike culture" is being too narrowly and inaccurately defined.

"I don't particularly like that the Zoobombers or 'hipster' crowd is what people usually think of when they think of bikes," wrote "Mark C."

In the comments section of the Vanguard website, meanwhile, readers - presumably offended cyclists - called Harger a few unsanitary names, accused of him of spreading hate and criticized his writing skills.

"I am glad you took the time to review the movie," wrote "Matt." "But next time you review a movie, make sure your article actually reviews the movie and not turn the piece into your own outlet for your hatred of cyclists."

For now, it's hard to know what Harger thinks of the tirestorm. We only have his review and it's sign off: "I'll see you at the gas tank."